Filament interlacing apparatus



' Aug. 1, 1967 c. e. GILMORE ET AL 3,333,313

FILAMENT INTERLACING APPARATUS Filed Dec 6, 1965 United States Patent 3,333,313 FILAMENT INTERLACING APPARATUS Charles G. Gilmore and Raman A. Patel, Meadville, Pa.,

assignors to FMC Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 6, 1965, Ser. No. 511,679 7 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for making a continuous filament interlaced or tangled yarn.

Continuous filament synthetic yarn as initially manufactured has little or no twist and when such yarn is processed into a fabric there is a tendency for the individual filaments to wander away from the main bundle and become snagged on the processing equipment. In order to provide a compact unitary bundle of filaments it has long been customary to subject the initially manufactured yarn to a twisting operation. Continuous filament yarn needs only a slight twist (about one turn per inch) to make it perform satisfactorily in weaving and knitting machinery but nevertheless the twisting is a separate operation requiring special handling and is a noticeable item of expense. Also the twisting sometimes damages the yarn, as by causing broken filaments. It is known that continuous filament yarns may be processed into a fabric without twisting if the filaments, instead of being maintained in parallelism, are caused to intcrlace or tangle with one another so that the friction between the filaments holds them together. These untwisted yarns have running and processing characteristics similar to a low twist yarn and are known in the trade by such terms as interlaced, tangled and intertwined and it is toward an apparatus for producing such yarns that the present invention is directed. These yarns are distinguished from bulked yarns in that the filaments are compactly arranged so that the denier of the yarn is about the same as the denier of a twisted yarn having the same number and size of filaments.

Therefore it is the primary object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for producing continuous filament interlaced yarn.

More specific objects of the invention and the means for attaining the same will become apparent as the description of certain preferred embodiments thereof proceeds.

Referring now to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the elements of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken transversely of the yarn passageway through the apparatus; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing a modified form of yarn passageway.

The apparatus comprises two main members and 12 having flat faces or flat faced areas 14 and 16 respectively which are spaced a slight distance apart by a shim 18 or the like which is interposed therebetween. Bolts 20 and 22 and tapered or straight dowel locating pins 45 and 46 may be employed to hold the parts in the assembled condition shown in FIG. 2. Instead of the shim 18, one or the other of members 10 and 12 may have a corresponding step or extension formed integrally therewith, but in either case a passageway or open ended slot 24 is provided between the upper portions of said members.

Member 12 has an open sided channel 26 extending through the flat face 16 thereof. The channel or the means defining the channel comprises a semicircular bottom 28 and straight side walls 30 and 32 extending from the bottom to the open side of the channel. In that form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 side walls 30 and 32 extend perpendicular to the flat face 16 of member 12 and also perpendicular to face 14 of member 10, faces 14 and 16 being parallel to one another. Since the bottom 28 of the channel is a true semicircle, the channel is symmetrical about a plane extending longitudinally thereof and perpendicular to the flat face 16, said plane being indicated in FIGS. 2 and 4 by chain-dotted line P.

Member 10 has bored therein from one of the side edges a passageway 34 the open end of which is plugged by a plug 36. Extending from passageway 34 and opening through the flat face 14 of member 10 are a pair of smaller tubular conduits 38 and 40 constituting fluid discharge means. The fiuid discharge conduits 38 and 40 are directed toward the semicircular bottom of channel 26'and are spaced a small distance from the centerline of the channel. Preferably, passages 38 and 40 are located at equal distances from the opposite ends of channel 26 and preferably also are located on the same side of plane P. A fluid pressure line 42 is screwed into or otherwise connected to member 10 so as to discharge a fluid, preferably air, into passageway 34 from whence it issues in the form of jet streams through the two smaller conduits 38 and 40.

The yarn 44 to be interlaced is drawn through the channel 26 under a slight tension and is maintained generally in alignment with the longitudinal centerline of the channel by a suitable guide or guides, not shown, located outside the confines of the above described apparatus. The open-sided slot 24 between members 10 and 12 enables the yarn to be laced through channel 26 with facility. The jets of fluid issuing from conduits 38 and 40 extend parallel to plane P until striking the running yarn or the bottom of channel 26 at which time swirling currents are created which swing some of the filaments forming the yarn out of line and these filaments become interlaced or intertwined with other filaments making up the yarn whereby when the yarn leaves the apparatus the filaments are no longer readily separatable but cling together in a manner characteristic of a low twist yarn. The yarn is not actually twisted or even false twisted but due to the interlacing of the filaments has handling characteristics similar to a twisted yarn. The actual amount of interlacing depends upon a number of factors such as the tension on the yarn as it passes through the apparatus, the denier of the yarn and the denier and number of individual filaments forming the yarn, the air pressure and the size of passages 38 and 40 and also upon the size of channel 26 and the spacing between members 10 and 12. However, by maintaining the yarn under a slight tension, looping of filaments and bulking of the yarn are avoided and the thus treated yarn has a denier about the same as a low twist yarn formed of the same number and size of filaments.

In FIG. 5 is shown a modification and parts corresponding to parts of the previously described embodiment are indicated by prime numbers. The only difference between this embodiment and that previously described is that the straight walls 30 and 32' converge in the direction away from the semi-circular bottom 38 of the channel 26'. It has been found that, other factors being equal, substantially greater tangling of the yarn results when the angle 0 between centerline plane P and each of the walls 30' and 32' is about 10 to 20, that is to say the angle of convergence between the walls is about 20 to 40. As shown in the drawing, channel 26 is symmetrical about plane P which extends longitudinally of the channel and perpendicular to the flat face 16. It will be understood that member 12 may be used as a replacement for member 12 so that in the assembled apparatus the jet openings 38 and 40 will be properly placed with respect to channel 26' for obtaining more effective tangling in the yarn. The principal advantage of the FIG. modification is that a greater degree of filament interlacing may be obtained than with the other form With the same amount of air.

Having thus described certain preferred embodiments of the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Yarn filament interlacing apparatus comprising a member having a flat face, means defining an open sided channel extending through the flat face of said member, said means defining the channel comprising a semi-circular bottom and straight walls extending from the bottom to the open side of the channel, said channel being symmetrical about a plane extending longitudinally thereof and perpendicular to said flat face of said member, and fluid discharge means for directing a jet of fluid toward said semi-circular bottom in a stream parallel to and spaced from the defined plane.

2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein said straight walls converge in the direction away from said semi-circular bottom.

3, The apparatus set forth in claim 2 wherein the angle of convergence of said straight walls is approximately 20 to 40.

4. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 comprising a second member having a flat face extending parallel to the flat face of the first mentioned member and spaced a small distance therefrom, and said fluid discharge means comprising a conduit having a discharge end in the flat face of said second member.

5. The apparatus set forth in claim 4 wherein said straight walls converge in the direction away from said semi-circular bottom at an angle of approximately 20 to 6. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 comprising a second fluid discharge means for directing a jet of fluid toward said semi-circular bottom in a stream parallel to and spaced from the defined plane, said two fluid discharge means being located at equal distances from opposite ends of said channel.

7. The apparatus set forth in claim 6 wherein the two fluid discharge means are located on the same side of the defined plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,990,671 7/1961 Bunting et al. 5734 2,995,801 8/1961 Cormier et al 28-1 3,022,566 2/1962 Daniels et al. 28-72 3,237,269 1/1966 Hawkins 28-1 3,261,071 7/1966 Clendening et al. 28-1 3,296,679 1/1967 Jobson 28-1 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

L. K. RIMRODT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. YARN FILAMENT INTERLACING APPARATUS COMPRISING A MEMBER HAVING A FLAT FACE, MEANS DEFINING AN OPEN SIDED CHANNEL EXTENDING THROUGH THE FLAT FACE OF SAID MEMBER, SAID MEANS DEFINING THE CHANNEL COMPRISING A SEM-CURCULAR BOTTOM AND STRAIGHT WALLS EXTENDING FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE OPEN SIDE OF THE CHANNEL, SAID CHANNEL BEING SYMMETRICAL ABOUT A PLANE EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF AND PERPENDICULAR TO SAID FLAT FACE OF SAID MEMBER, AND FLUID 